Learning how to deal with emotions and stuff
by TheAndroidLogo
Summary: A bunch of connected oneshots and stories about Connor, Hank, and the Jericrew. (and maybe Kara and the gang) (Rated T for swearing)
1. The glitch

Author notes: This is my first fanfiction, please be nice! I hope you enjoy it, and if there are any spelling/grammatical errors, please don't be shy to point them out. I will try to update when I can, but I can't make any promises as I am juggling this with school and exams are coming up. Also, about the title, I have no idea.

* * *

Connor. April 10th, 2039, 8:42 am 57°F, Hank's house.

It was Connor and Hank's day off when Connor received a call from Markus. This in itself was unusual, as Simon tended to make the calls, as Markus was usually busy with some legal document or press conference. Connor answered the call.

"Hello Markus"  
_"Um... Hi, Connor"_ Markus seemed unsure about something, what, Connor had no idea.  
"Do you need help with something, Markus?"  
_"Um...yes, actually. I...found a...glitch in my program. Could I come over and you help me. I don't think I can get rid of it on my own. I would get the others to help me, but you're another prototype and..."_ He trails off. This is very unlike the preacher he usually is, so this can't be any normal glitch. That, and he called Connor to help instead of asking North, Josh or Simon about it.  
"Yes, Markus, you can come over. what time will you be here?"  
_"Is 9:30 am okay?"_  
"Yes that is fine"  
_"Okay...see you soon."_

Markus hangs up. Hank is still asleep. Connor wonders how he should wake him up today. He looks over at Sumo, who is watching Connor from his bed. "Would you like to wake him up, Sumo?" The huge dog lifts his head and wags his tail at the sound of his name. "Sumo! Come" he calls, leading the massive Saint Bernard towards Hank's bedroom. "Up!" he calls softly. Sumo leaps upon Hank, beginning to smother him in licks. Hank gives a surprised cry as he is squashed by 160 pounds of dog. "Good morning, Hank, breakfast is nearly ready. Sumo! Off, Hank has had enough now." The lovable hound leaps off the bed and trots off to the kitchen in search of food.  
"Connor, what the fuck!? It's our day off, leave me in peace!"  
"I would, Hank, but Markus is coming over soon and I would like you to at least be presentable when he comes." This gets Hank's attention, as Connor had hoped it would. "Fuck, robo-Jesus is coming to my goddamn house at this unholy hour. What has this world come too?" Connor gives him a look. "Fine! I'm up, I'm up! Goddamn Androids..." Connor leaves Hank alone to get ready for the day and to finish making Hank's breakfast.

* * *

Markus. April 10th 2039,9:20 am,57F, autonomous taxi, destination 115 Michigan Drive, 10 minutes away from your destination

Markus sighs. He hopes Connor can help him. This glitch is much bigger than a normal glitch. It hasn't done anything, as of yet, but who knows what it could do in the future. Best just to get rid of it now so he is always ready and able to help his people. He wishes he wasn't a prototype, so easily prone to glitches and software problems with all his unfinished code and half-done programs. _"You are 9 minutes away from your destination." _The automated voice helpfully supplies when he checks to see how far away from Hank and Connor's house. He remembered asking Connor why he wanted to stay with the grumpy Lieutenant instead of staying at Jericho. He closed his eyes and let the memory play.

_Connor looks at Markus for a few seconds, before answering. "Hank is like a father to me. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. He cares about me, in his own way, why do you ask?" He hasn't answered the question properly. Markus also wants to know why he didn't just go to Jericho, which is now situated at the former CyberLife tower. "Connor, you could have just gone to Jericho. You did have a choice to stay there." Connor stares at him, his brown eyes full of guilt and sadness. "No, Markus, I couldn't stay at Jericho. Not after what I did" Markus should have known the conversation would go this way. He pulls Connor into a hug. "Hey, it's okay. You did what you were programmed to do, you were following orders. We all were at one point. You're free now, the past is in the past." Suddenly a thought that had been poking at him for a while popped back into his mind. "we're both RK models, right?" Connor nods into his shoulder. "Does that...Does that mean we're brothers?" Connor moves to look at him to see if he is serious. He sees that Markus is serious, before nodding again. Markus lets out a long breath. "so... this means that you're my little brother."_

Markus is pulled out of the memory when the automated voice calls out it's chirpy "_you have reached your destination! Thank you for using Detroit taxies, we hope to see you again soon!" _as the doors slide open, allowing him to step out. He walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell. There's a few barks from inside the house and a "Sumo! No barking! Sit down!" Markus smiles to himself at that. Sumo. He wonders what type of dog he is when the door opens. Connor is on the other side, a far cry from the CyberLife machine he once was. "Hello, Markus!" Connor seems very happy to see him. Markus smiles, reaching out and ruffling Connor's curly hair. "Hi, Connor," he says in lieu of a greeting. Markus loved having a younger brother. Someone who looked up to him for support and guidance. Someone who loved him unconditionally and not for his position as leader of the Android revolution. Suddenly a massive dog came lumbering over, sniffing at Markus. "So this is the infamous Sumo, or so I've heard"_ Sumo is a perfect name_, he thinks as he bends down to pet the dog. "Yes, I suppose you heard Hank earlier. Sumo gets very excited when somebody knocks, don't you Sumo? Come in Markus, come and meet Hank!"

Markus follows Connor into a tidy living room, the kind of tidiness that only an Android can achieve. Connor must have cleaned it. Markus is slightly surprised at this realization, as he never would have thought that an Android designed to hunt down deviants would be equipped with housemaid protocols. A man comes in from the kitchen. "So the Android Messiah is in my living room, huh?" _Lieutenant_ _Hank Anderson, born 9/6/1985, no criminal record,_ his programming helpfully supplies. Markus smiles. "Can't say I've heard that one before. They usually call me something along the lines of Robot Jesus or Robot God." Hank chuckles at this. Connor smiles slightly, although there's that hint of sadness that's always there. He clearly still feels guilty about the things he's done in the past. Markus wants to hug him, make the bad feelings go away. Hank clears his throat. "You probably know this already, but I'm Hank. That big lug over there is Sumo." Markus finds himself smiling at the name again. "Sumo is a perfect name. Did you name him?" Connor stares at Hank, a look of worry on his face. Hank sighs, reaching out to pet the dog. "No. I didn't. Co-... Cole did." With that, Hank promptly leaves the room.

Markus stares after him, confused. "Who's Cole?" He asked Connor softly. He sighs but doesn't answer. Markus repeats the question. Connor still doesn't answer. Markus is about to give up when Connor speaks up. "Cole was Hank's son. He was six when they got into a car accident. Cole didn't make it." Markus is stunned into silence. Connor looks up at him sadly. "Let's see about this glitch, come on." Markus can only nod. He lets himself be lead to the couch by Connor. He sits down and holds out his hand, the artificial skin dissipating off of his hand. Connor does the same and grasps his hand.

_RK800 313 248 317-52 requesting connection. __Accept?  
Y/N  
Y  
Connecting...  
_Markus shows Connor the glitch, which upon closer inspection isn't just a glitch, but a half-deleted program. Connor strips the program to its very code, and Markus is surprised by how easily he does it. _Of course_. He's the most advanced prototype ever created by CyberLife, what does Markus expect? Connor breaks the interface. "A half-deleted program. The code is familiar to me, but I can't quite place it... Whoever deleted that program didn't do it very well, they can't have used very advanced technology." Markus has come to this conclusion himself, but it's still interesting to hear. "But who? Maybe it's from my beta testing, I don't remember that. Perhaps we could talk to Elijah Kamski about it, he's the one who designed me." Connor stares at Markus, shaking his head.  
"Maybe" Connor mutters

_Message received from WR400 641 790 831. Open?  
Y/N  
_Markus sighs, pressing his face into Connor's hair. "What is it?" He asks softly.  
_Message received from PL600 501 743 923. Open?  
Y/N  
_"It's North and Simon. They're trying to contact me. Why can't they just leave me alone?"  
_Message received from WR400 641 790 831. Open?  
Y/N  
Y  
Markus, answer me! Where are you?!  
MARKUS! If you don't fucking answer me, I'm sending out a search party to get your ass back to the tower.  
_Markus groans. Connor chuckles softly. "Are they being overprotective of you again?" Markus nods. He opens the message from Simon.  
_Markus, where are you? We're getting worried._  
Markus writes out a message for North and then one for Simon, saying that he was with Connor. North replied almost immediately.  
_MARKUS WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU?! DON'T GO NEAR HIM UNLESS ONE OF US IS WITH YOU! YOU KNOW WE CAN'T TRUST HIM!_  
Markus grits his teeth in frustration.  
_North, Connor is fine, he's one of us now. Have you forgotten that he changed the course of the revolution?_  
Markus begins to rub Connor's back absentmindedly as if he can read the things North has written and is upset by them.  
_Ugh, just come back to the tower. _  
Markus smiles slightly, knowing he's won this battle with North. He glances at Connor, who is clinging to Markus like he never wants to let go. "Connor, I have to get back to Jericho before North kills me." Connor doesn't move. "Come on Connor, you're my brother, and I love you, but I really have to go." Connor doesn't move. He clearly doesn't plan on moving either. There's a chuckle from the doorway. "Clingy, isn't he? Not his fault though, I doubt that anyone had so much have touched him in a kind way before the revolution." Markus looks over at Hank, who is standing there looking amused yet sad at the same time. Hank walks over and gently touches Connor's shoulder. "Come on son, let go of Markus. He needs to go now." Markus is surprised at the gentleness in his tone and is even more surprised when Connor lets go of him and moves to stand beside Hank, his head bowed. "See you soon, Connor." He just nods before walking off to the kitchen. Sumo gets up from his bed and follows him. Hank leads Markus to the front door. They bid each other farewell and Markus leaves to hail an autonomous taxi back to Jericho.

* * *

Markus. April 10th, 2039, 8:55 pm, 42°F, New Jericho Tower

Markus sits in his quarters, staring at the half deleted program in his vision. After a moment of deliberation, Markus decides to open the program and let it run. Who knows, it might be useful. Suddenly, the world around him changes into a once beautiful garden. Now it is ruined and patchy, the code visible in places. "_A mind palace." _Markus thinks. _"I wonder why someone attempted to delete this"_ Then he heard something behind him. Footsteps. Markus whirled around, to face the owner of the footsteps. A glitchy figure with chunks of the left side of their body missing, replaced with binary. The figure speaks, the voice glitching and lagging, but Markus can still make out what she says.

_"Hello Markus, how nice of you to join me..."_


	2. Amanda

**Author notes**: the last chapter wasn't great I know, but as I said, this is my first time writing fanfiction. I'm going to really try with this chapter and the others to come afterward. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Connor. April 11th, 2039, 7:34 am, 49°F, Hank's house.

Connor is sorting through his programming when he comes across the Zen Garden program. He begins to have a bad feeling as to why he'd recognized the code in the half-deleted program that Markus had found. Just to make sure, he strips the program down to it's code. The code was obviously more advanced and completed, but it was the same program. He had to warn Markus. If Markus accessed the program, Amanda could find a way to control him, even if she was half-deleted. He remembered the fear he had felt while stuck in that blizzard, the feeling of his joints freezing up, the bitter cold. Afraid that he'd kill Markus before he found the exit...  
_Stress levels 86%. Probability of self-destruction: High._  
Shit. He wanted Sumo. Where was Sumo? He calls for the massive dog and he comes trotting over, sensing Connor's distress. Sumo jumps on the couch and rests his head on Connor's lap. He began to pet the dog, feeling his stress levels beginning to lower. He can't let Markus go through the same thing he did. He calls Markus Cybernetically.  
_Establishing connection with RK200 684 842 971...  
Error!  
__Connection not established.  
_No, that can't be right. He tries again.  
_Establishing connection with RK200 684 842 971...  
Error!  
__Connection not established._  
Connor's really worried now. Why won't he answer? Is he busy? No, he would've told Connor yesterday if he was busy. Maybe it was something unexpected. What if Markus has accessed the program and Amanda has already taken control and Markus can't find the exit? Is there even an exit? What did Amanda say about the program? That Kamski made the first version, but it had been improved since then? So the exit should be there? But the program had been half-deleted. What if the exit had been deleted or is corrupted by the attempted deletion?  
_Stress levels 89%. __Probability of self-destruction: High.  
_Connor buries his face in Sumo's fur. He thinks about Hank, realizing that he should probably make Hank some breakfast. He will call Simon in a bit, as he is the only Jericho leader that actually trusts him. North hates him, he doesn't blame her, he would too, and Josh seems pretty skeptical about him, again, he doesn't blame him. Simon trusts him though, and Connor has a suspicion that he is in a secret relationship with Markus, based on the way Markus talks about Simon. And the way that Markus usually talks about Simon. The thought of Markus secretly having a relationship with somebody, cheers him up a little. He supposes that it isn't much different from the relationship he and Markus have. They're brothers, but Markus likes to keep it a secret from the other Jericho leaders, although he told Carl, and let Connor tell Hank. _"You shouldn't have to keep a secret from your family." _ He had said._ "Because if you can't tell your family, who can you tell?" _ If Markus is in a relationship with Simon, then why hasn't he told Connor? They're brothers, so they're family, right? Connor feels slightly disheartened at this thought process.

Connor sighs, moving Sumo off of his lap and going into the kitchen and beginning to make Hank breakfast. After scanning his options, he decides on scrambled eggs on toast with baked beans and bacon. And a cup of coffee. Strong, black coffee. Just the way Hank likes it. As he is making breakfast, he begins to worry about Markus. He tries to call him again.  
_Establishing connection with RK200 684 842 971...  
Error!  
__Connection not established._  
"Connection not established". It doesn't say "Connection denied", which is what it would say if Markus had declined the call. No, this means that Markus can't answer at all, which is really concerning. The eggs are done scrambling. He puts them on top of the toast and put the rashers of bacon on the plate and starts brewing the coffee. Now to wake up Hank...

He shakes Hank, which works, but he sleepily mumbles:"5 more minutes..". Connor really can't think of a creative way to wake him up, so he drags the covers off Hank, effectively waking him up. "Good morning Hank, you have work in 2 hours." Hank sighs, running a hand over his face and sitting up. "I'll leave you to get ready, breakfast is on the table." He leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. Time to call Simon.  
_Establishing connection with PL600 501 743 923...  
__Connection accepted.  
__"Hey Connor, what's up?"  
_"I'm worried about Markus, have you seen him today?"  
_"I saw him last night, he seemed...off, kept mentioning something about someone named Amanda."  
_"Shit! He accessed the program!"  
_"Connor...what are you talking about?"_  
"Simon, listen to me. Amanda is an AI, part of this program called the Zen Garden program. She was my handler when I was-..."  
_"It's okay, Connor. Go on."  
_"After I deviated, when Markus was giving his speech after the revolution, Amanda pulled me back into the Zen Garden. She resumed control over my program and tried to make me kill Markus. I only got out because of an emergency exit that I had found out about a few days prior. It was so cold, and I was scared, I was so, so scared."  
_"It's okay, Connor. Try to calm down, okay?" _  
Connor realises that he's been crying. He wipes the tears off of his face.  
"Simon..."  
_"Don't worry, I'm gonna go check on him."  
_"Thank you, Simon."  
Connor ends the call. He hopes that Markus is okay.

* * *

North. April 11th, 2039, 7:57 am, 49°F, New Jericho Tower

North is worried about Markus. He's been acting weird since last night. And he saw the Deviant Hunter yesterday. He probably did something to Markus. North knows they can't trust him. Why doesn't Markus ever listen to her? Now Markus has paid the price of not listing to her. He claims that the Deviant Hunter is one of them now. Markus is just too trusting of people. He should have just listened to her and nothing would have happened to Markus. Fuck knows what the Deviant Hunter did to him. North sees Simon talking Cybernetically with somebody. She listens in. She hears Simon say the Deviant Hunter's name. Anger bubbles up within her. He's already hurt Markus, she has to stop Simon from blindly trusting him too. Maybe the Deviant Hunter's plan is to control all the leaders of Jericho and bring them down to CyberLife. Unfortunately for him, North knows better than to trust him.

* * *

Simon. April 11th, 2039, 7:58 am, 49°F, New Jericho Tower.

The call ends. Simon sees North standing near the doorway, most likely listening in. She looks angry, and Simon knows why. She's angry at Connor. She still calls Connor by his old title; "Deviant Hunter" Simon thinks that it is unfair that people still call Connor that; most of them have never even met him before. He sighs and goes to check on Markus.

Markus is sitting on his bed, perfectly still apart from his simulated breathing. Simon moves towards him and touches his shoulder. "Markus are you okay?" He asks. Markus nods, nothing seems to be wrong. "Connor was worried about you" Markus smiles at that. "Course he is, Connor's always worried," Markus says. His voice seems...Wrong. Simon can't quite place it though, he assumes that Markus is tired. They all are. It's been a crazy few months. Simon leaves the room and goes to talk to North and Josh. He doesn't notice Markus taking his gun from the drawer and leaving the tower.

* * *

Connor. April 11th, 2039, 8:28 am, 49°F, Hank's house.

A motorboat roars on the water behind Hank's house. Hank has gone to work early. He said that he has paperwork that he needs to finish. Connor suspects that it has something to do with Reed punching him the other day. Hank claims that Reed got off with a "slap on the wrist" Connor had searched his database for the meaning of the idiom.  
_A Slap on the Wrist. The phrase 'A Slap on the Wrist' means to get a light punishment (for doing something wrong). Example of Use: "He should be in jail for what he did, but he got off with just a slap on the wrist."  
_Ah, that makes sense. Usually, an officer will be suspended for attacking another officer, but Reed just got told off, "like a naughty child", according to Hank. Hank says a lot of things. He uses a lot of idioms. Connor doesn't really understand idioms. He prefers things said literally, otherwise he gets confused.

A knock at the door. It's Markus. Connor lets him in. He's about to speak when Markus pulls a gun on Connor. Fear fills his entire being. Because he knows. Amanda. She's done it again. Not to him, but his older brother. This hurts just as much. Amanda smiles. It's Markus' face, his body even, but Connor knows it's Amanda's mind. She lowers the gun slightly and fires straight into his torso. He cries out in pain. The bullet hasn't hit anything important though, and Amanda knows this. She doesn't want to kill him, yet anyway. _"You're going to pay for what you did to me, Connor."_ She hisses. A chill runs down Connor's artificial spine. It's Amanda's voice. She shoots again, twice. One in the shoulder, one in his leg. The pain is almost too much to bear. Gritting his teeth, he grabs Markus' arm and forces an interface.

* * *

Markus. April 11th, 2039, 8:30 am, 49°F, Ḷ̨᷄ͥo̙̣ͦc̣̒̍ạ̣͎ͪt̘̣̰ị̸̴̉ọͩ͜ṇ᷈͐ ụ᷈ͮ᷀n̦̣ͮḳ̪ͧṇ᷈̾ọͣ͂͢ẉ̃ṇ̵ͅ.

Markus is cold. He is c᷾o͊̒l᷊͠d̝̖̾͐͂. He wants out, how does he get out? He sees a figure in the distance; is it Ȧ̛᷂͔̠ͬ᷆͜m͓̬͍̯̫ͮ᷈̏͘a̝̟̤ͭ᷾᷃͡n̵͖ͦ᷅̐᷁̀d͖͏̶̬͌̎ͮ̐a̶̢̭ͪ̚͢͞?̨̙͎̓᷁̍̿͝ Ṉͭͨo̢̱̥ i̸̱̊ṯ᷃̽'̱̺̕s̱̿̄ ṉ̙̓o̜̱ͬṯͮ̅ ẉ̱̝ẖ᷅͞o̬̱̍ i̱͐͆s᷂̱̎ i̱̯ͣt̙̱̽ w̱̜͐h͕̱̩o͏̱̰ î̭̱s᷊̱̳ i̱ͮ̕ṯ̌ͅ c̩̱᷆a̱͂͠ǹ͈̱ y̥̱͉o̱͟͠u̱͊͟ ẖͪ͑e̱᷇᷄ḻ̵̿p̱̂̒ m̤̱̫e̡̱᷇ i̡̱̽ w̱̼͞a̧̱͑n̬̱̜ṯ̤ͮ o̱ͩ͡u̱᷾̉ṯ᷁ͅ l᷿̱͙e̯̱͚ṯ̴͡ m̴̱̤e̢̗̱ ó̱͂û̱̽ṯͫ̽ i̱ͤ͝m̱ͫ͠ c̱̪̅o̱̭᷄ḻ͈̾ḏ᷊̏ h̥̱̐o͈̱̰͜w̱̋̄ ḏ̈́ͨö̱ͦ ḭ̱̄ g̱͗͢e̱᷈̽ṯ͝ͅ o̸̱͋u̱ͪ̄ṯ̸̛?̴͓̱ The figure gets closer. It's Connor. w̵͈͉̼̣h̽̎᷄a̭͢ͅt̫ͪͦ i̔̈́ͨf̪̖̘ ȋ̜ͩt̙ͯͅṡ̼̟ n᷉͐͞o̰̍̾t͖̣ͮ ḥ͖͛i᷊᷃̍s̋᷉ͧ l̸ͧ̎ỉ̥̑t̛̞ͣt̨̍͌ļ᷆ͮë̸̦ ḃ̻ͅr̶̡᷇o͓᷃̔t̫̜̒h̼̘̿e̬̤᷉r̜͋͌?̤̑̀ w͇͇͐̕͜h͉͍̓a̠̪͙t͏̆̇ ȉ̬̰̺̺͊͢f̡͓͖ͩ̃͋ͬ᷄͢ ă᷇͟m̻̣ͬả̖ͨn̰᷂͐d̙᷿ͯa᷆̓̽ i̇̾᷇s̲͂̕ p᷊̽᷾r̨̧̋é̀̐t̝̺͘e̴̗͑n͗᷈̂ḑͤ᷉ĩ̟͕n̪͛͘g͠͏̭ t᷊̭́o᷂͓̽ b͍̾͏e͓᷃ͤ c̨͋᷄̀͘o̰᷇͞n̰̣ͨņ̤̎oͤ̃᷃r᷂ͪͨ n̺͚̒ỏ̙̕ n̳̑ͤo̲̊͢ i̗̤͗t̘᷆᷇ h̀̐ͅă̛᷆s̯̀ͯ t͕͕̃ō̪͉ b̹᷀̏e̸̘ͧ c̨᷁͑ǫ̢̐n̡̧̠n᷾᷉͞ȍ̹̎r̓᷄͟,̪̠̈́ p̣̙̜̐̕l̲̄᷆e͚̿̔a̷᷂᷾ś̼ͬe̠͓ͮ d͂̾̏o̸̡̤n̖᷀͐t͔᷅͌ b̋̋̇e᷇̆̈ a͈̱͚m͓̞ͤa̵̖ͨň͚͒d̴̡̥ă̸͇. Connor gets closer. Or is it him? He's bleeding from gunshot wounds, his LED blaring red. Connor grabs Markus' arm, pulling it over his shoulder, supporting his weight. Connor seems to be in a lot of pain. Markus hates that Connor has to help him, even though he's hurt. They're moving towards a faint blue light. The source of the light comes into view. A plinth, with a handprint on it, made out of small blue LEDs. They're nearly there when Connor collapses, bringing them both to the ground. Connor cries out as he slams into the icy ground. Markus grabs him, dragging them towards it. Markus reaches out his hand, the artificial skin sliding off it, and slams his hand against the handprint. Everything goes black.

He opens his eyes back in his body. Connor's on the ground in front of him. Markus has a gun in his hand. And he's pointing it at Connor. He drops it like it's red hot. No. He shot Connor. **He shot his brother!** He has to help him, he has to try and at least make things better. He carries Connor into the kitchen, heart almost breaking at the resulting cry of pain. He sits Connor down on the floor, propping him up against the wall. He needs to cauterize the wounds. Luckily, the bullets have gone straight through, otherwise, Markus would have to dig them out, causing more pain. Although cauterizing the wounds isn't going to be much better. "Connor? I'm going to have to cauterize these, it's going to hurt." Connor just nods, not having the energy to speak. Does Hank have an Android repair kit? He should do. Now, where is it? He asks Connor. Connor points shakily at the cupboard under the sink. Markus goes to check. It's a standard blue repair kit. There won't be a cauterizing knife in there. Markus didn't really expect there to be one, anyway. Which means he'll have to improvise. He rummages around in the drawers and finds a small knife perfect for the job. He begins to heat it up on the stove.

When the blade is a fiery red from the heat, Markus switches off the stove. He kneels down next to Connor and presses the blade against the entry wound in his shoulder. Connor cries out, falling against Markus and gripping his arm. He does the same to the exit wound on his shoulder. It's terrifying, hearing Connor cry out in pain, feeling him writhe around. When the wounds are finally cauterized, Markus throws the knife into the sink. Opening the repair kit, he takes the bandages and wraps them around the wounds. Now he needs blue blood. There, on top of the fridge. Markus takes a few bottles and helps Connor to drink them. He takes him to the living room and sits down with him on the couch. He holds him tight, never wanting to let go.  
_Message received from PJ500 684 899 150. Open?  
Y/N  
_Markus growls in frustration. Every time he's spending time with Connor, at least one of the other Jericho leaders gets worried about him and sends him a message. Every. Single. Time. "Markus?" Connor sounds concerned about him. All this has happened, yet Connor still cares. Why? Connor seems to know what he's thinking. "She did the same thing to me once, you know." Markus turns to look at him, moving his hands to rest on Connor's shoulders. He winces, pulling away. Oh, right. Markus feels worse now. "After the revolution. Amanda pulled me back into the Zen Garden, resumed control of my program. She tried to make me kill you." Markus has never heard this story before and is paying full attention. "It was a blizzard there, just like your garden was. It was so cold, and I was scared. I got out via an exit that I had found out about a few days before." Markus doesn't know what to say. "So that's how you knew about the exit." Markus hadn't even begun to question that yet. He reaches out and pulls Connor close.  
_Message received from WR400 641 790 831. Open?  
__Y/N  
_Markus sighs, wishing that _they would just leave him alone, Goddamnit!_ Connor cranes his neck to look at him, smiling slightly. "Is it North?" Markus nods, frustrated. "...And Josh. Why don't they understand that I want them to leave me alone?"  
_10 messages__ received from WR400 641 790 831. Open?_  
_Y/N  
_Markus groans before selecting yes. Connor chuckles softly.  
_Markus where you at?  
__I just noticed  
__That the gun  
__From your drawer  
__Is gone.  
__Have you gone  
__to kill  
__the Deviant Hunter?  
__If so,  
__why didn't you invite_ _me?_  
Markus sighs again, hugging Connor tighter. Why does North, in an odd way, have to be kind of right? And why can't she just send messages like any normal person would? Then a thought strikes Markus. "Shouldn't you be at the precinct?" He asks Connor. He shakes his head. "Nope. Fowler said that I've been 'wracking up too much damn overtime and it's about time I had a couple days off'" Markus smiles, pressing his face into Connor's hair. It's soft and curly like it has been since he went to live with Hank. It suits him like that, falling down his forehead, obscuring his LED. Sumo pokes his head around the door, he'd probably ran off when gunshots were fired. Connor calls him over and pets his massive head.

He needs to tell Connor something, something that he's hidden from Connor for a while. He remembers what he said being able to tell your family secrets, and he knows he can trust him. He takes a deep breath. "Connor, there's something I need to tell you." Connor turns around and looks at him, listening. "Me and Simon, we're... together." Connor smiles, but he doesn't seem surprised. "Knew it!" He says softly. Markus is confused, he doesn't understand how Connor could have possibly known. " How did you know?" Markus asks. He wants to know. Connor tells him that he's always talking about Simon, and every time he has this dreamy, faraway look. Markus smiles, ruffling his hair. "Just don't tell anyone, okay?" Connor shakes his head and Markus knows he won't. His secret is safe with Connor. He loves his little brother.


	3. Family

**Author notes:** Prepare yourself for another fluffy as fuck chapter! (Don't worry it'll get better soon.)

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Hank. April 11th, 2039, 9:02 pm, 54°F, Hank's house

Hank comes home late, expecting to be greeted by a worried Connor and a barking Sumo. He is only greeted by a barking Sumo. That's concerning. Where's Connor? Hank goes into the living room. There he is, asleep on the couch with Markus.

Wait, Markus?

What the fuck is Markus doing here?

And is that a gun on the kitchen table?!

Hank isn't liking how things are starting to look. He shakes Markus gently, careful not to wake Connor. Markus stirs and looks up at him, expression going from confused to-... _fearful? What the fuck is going on?_ "Markus, what exactly is going on right now? Why are you here?" When he doesn't answer, Hank is even more confused. He sits next to him. "Markus?" Hank prompts, trying to get an answer out of the Android. He still doesn't answer. He's going to have to wake up Connor if he wants any answers. He shakes him awake, concern setting in when he wakes up with a cry, LED flickering red, clearly in pain. "Hey kid, what happened?" Hank asks softly, reaching out to stroke Connor's hair. He is obviously still tired and not up for talking. Hank coaxes the story out of him eventually, and he isn't happy. It isn't anyone's fault, of course, but why didn't anyone call him, tell him what was happening? Hank asks them, and of course that the answer is some bullshit about not wanting to bother him while he was at work. Connor's starting to fall asleep again, and Hank doesn't want to keep him up any longer, so all his questions will have to wait until morning.

He pulls Connor close to him, resting his head on his lap, beginning to stroke his hair again. "Markus?" Markus doesn't seem to notice. "Hey Markus, you doing okay?" Still no answer. He just stares downwards and Hank's wondering what's so interesting about his goddamn living room floor when Markus mutters "He'll be okay in a few hours, at least physically." Hank doesn't really know what he means by it until he realizes that having someone control your older brother and having them being forced to shoot you AND then having to return to the place of your nightmares to help your brother is probably going to leave a lasting effect on somebody. But then this "lasting effect" will also be left behind on said brother. "I know Markus, but what about you?" Markus sighs, looking up at him looking angry. "What about me?! Connor's the one who's been shot, who's been forced to return to a place that traumatized him, who's been faced with a person who betrayed him! So what about me Hank? WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Markus' shouting has woken up Connor, who looks confused, but also terrified. Hank knows why Connor hates it when people shout. He's witnessed him freak out when people shout at him, flinching when Fowler shouts across the bullpen. Hank doesn't exactly know the origins of this fear, but he's had to teach a few people a lesson when they've yelled at Connor. That includes Reed, of course. Actually, he's had to teach Reed a few lessons, as he doesn't quite seem to get the message. Hank reaches out and hugs him tight to calm him down. It works until Markus starts yelling again.

Hank murmurs a soft apology to Connor before yelling "Markus, calm down! You're scaring Connor!" Markus shuts up immediately. "And for fuck's sake, none of this is your fault!" Hank's not yelling anymore. He doesn't need to. Markus is listening now. "You don't need to blame yourself for everything, especially something so beyond your control. Just be grateful that you're alive, both you and Connor." Now that everyone has calmed down, Connor is starting to drift off again. He nestles against Hank, before falling asleep. He doesn't seem able to stay awake for very long at all. Hank doesn't mind, he needs to talk to Markus anyway. Shifting the sleeping Android in his arms to be comfier, he feels like he is being watched. He looks at Markus, who immediately looked down, a sad, faraway look in his eyes.

"I was fine, at first. Sure, I felt scared, guilty and worried about Connor. But we talked for a bit, and I felt closer to him than I ever had before. Then he went into rest mode to heal his injuries, and then it just hit me. I don't really know what happened. It... Just hurt. I felt like I had failed, as a friend, as a brother even. He had to save me, pull me out of that garden. It was my fault in the first place, I should have never opened that program, never trusted Her." Hank has a feeling that he knows who this "Her" is, Connor has mentioned this person in the past. Well, not a person, exactly, more like an AI based off of a person. A dead person.

"Hey Markus, did Connor ever tell you how he deviated?" Markus shakes his head. "An Android had killed a man, out of self-defense, but at the time the idea was that deviants are unstable and dangerous. So we looked and found the Android. she had someone with her, someone who she loved. I didn't know Androids could be in a relationship like that. Connor could have shot them, but he didn't. He let them go. and his programming and I felt so angry that he could just switch from showing empathy to being a stone cold machine again. So I pointed my gun at him, and he just acted like he didn't care, like it was just completely normal. I didn't realize that it wasn't him, that it was just programming. So I shot him, right in the head. God, I felt guilty. I still do. I had been so drunk that night, and so angry at the kid. I had no idea that he would come back. Didn't know he could. He did, though, and he seemed to be acting weird straight off the bat, pulling away if I touched him, flinching whenever I spoke to him. It didn't click for me at the time, but he was scared of me. He wouldn't admit it though. We went to the Stratford Tower to investigate after your speech. Connor goes into the kitchen to interrogate these Androids or whatever. Anyway, later one of these Androids comes out, kind of in a hurry, but none of us really paid him any attention. We all assumed that Connor had told him to go back to his job. I decided to check on him, to see how the interrogation was going. The poor kid was curled up on the floor, covered in blue blood, absolutely terrified. The deviant had ripped something out of him, chucked it across the room, pinned him to the counter with a knife through his hand and left him. He had to get the knife out and get the part ripped out of him back. Apparently getting shot in the head by someone you cared about and then nearly dying again makes you susceptible to deviancy. The second he saw me, he just had some kind of panic attack and I was the only person there who tried to calm him down. No one else there gave a single shit about him. They said that I should take him back to CyberLife. I said I would too get them off my back. The second I said that he completely broke down. I wasn't going to, of course, but how was he supposed to know that? He was crying, begging me not to take him back. I had to practically drag him into the elevator, all the way back to my car. Other officers kept coming over, asking if they should take him back. It was horrible. He just kept begging me not to take him back to CyberLife. I got him into my car and started driving. He kinda calmed down in the car, but he kept giving me this look of just... terror, just complete terror on his face. I find a private place to pull over and hugged him, telling him that I was taking him home and not to CyberLife and how sorry I was for shooting him and he was just so relieved and so grateful, wouldn't stop thanking me. I had tormented him and fucking killed him, but he forgave me, just like that. He also forgave the deviant who attacked him. He doesn't hold grudges, this kid. Unless your name is Richard Perkins and you work for the FBI, he has nothing against you. Not even frickin' Gavin Reed can make Connor hate him. So what you need to get out of this is that Connor isn't, and never will be, angry at you for anything, not killing him. And I think he would have told you already that the same thing happened to him with this program so you're kind of even in that respect. And Connor adores you, Markus, he looks up to you and he loves you so much, always talking about his big brother. He gets so excited whenever he sees you on TV. Nothing could change that, ever. Kid's so lovable, yet people hate him, doesn't matter if they're human or Android." Hank takes a deep breath. He's been talking for 10 minutes straight and Markus is just staring at him, apparently processing what he just said, or whatever it is Androids do when they're thinking.

Connor stirs in his arms, whimpering in his sleep, and Hank hopes that he isn't having another nightmare because this day has been long enough for him and he at least deserves a peaceful nights' rest, but of course, his hopes are in vain as Connor stirs again, whimpers turning to cries as he starts to thrash out, his LED spinning red. Hank shakes him, calling his name. "Connor, son, wake up! You're having a nightmare, it's not real!" Connor cries out again as he wakes up. Shit. Hank had forgotten that he was hurt. "Shit, I'm sorry kid. I didn't mean to make it hurt again." Connor just nods, burying his face in Hank's shoulder. "Hey, you wanna tell me what that was all about?" He asks softly. Connor shakes his head. Hank sighs. He looks at Markus, who's watching Connor, looking concerned. "Does this happen often?" He asks, sounding worried. Hank nods. "Yeah, maybe a couple times a night. It can get really bad sometimes, up to 5 or 6 times a night. I love him so much and it breaks my heart to see him like this." Markus nods, his multi-colored eyes watching him. He reaches his hand out to Connor, artificial skin dissipating. Hank has seen Androids do this before as a means of affection, as well as transferring things. He doesn't exactly know what they are doing, though. Connor gently pulls away from Hank's grasp, doing the same as Markus and taking his hand. "I can't stop the nightmares completely, but this should help." He murmurs. Connor's LED spins yellow for a few seconds, before flickering back to blue. "Thank you, Markus." He doesn't pull away though, and they both continue whatever the hell they're doing. Hank decides to leave them to it and goes back to his room.


	4. Deviant

**Author notes:** So, basically, yeah. My brother was writing this originally, but got pissed and gave up, so yeah hi I'm his sister. He WOULD NOT tell me his original idea for this, so I had to change things and created this monstrosity. You'll notice that the epilogues have gone, the title has changed and a few small details in the chapters have changed. Anyway, I saw earlier that in this AU, Connor actually deviates in the Stratford Tower after being shot by Hank the night before. So here's that. Enjoy. Also, if you had any fucking idea what the original idea for this was, please enlighten me. Also, anything that doesn't make sense in previous chapters will hopefully be fixed, but they might be missed. So if you see any, please point them out.

* * *

Connor steps closer to the three Androids it is interrogating. "One of you saw the attack on the surveillance cameras and said nothing. Which means there's a deviant in this room. And I'm going to find out which it is." The Android on the far right glances nervously at it, eyes darting back and forth like bullets. If it were in its capabilities, it would have rolled its eyes and scoffed. Could it make it any more obvious? He directs the next few questions at the deviant until it attacks him, ripping out his Thirium pump regulator and pinning him to the counter with a sharp object. A feeling, unlike any he's ever felt before, consumes him. There are red walls surrounding him, telling him to just give up, to just let himself die. He doesn't want to die. He can see a figure outlined in red. He's controlling it. He pushes at the wall experimentally. It gives slightly under his touch, red shards floating off into nothingness. He pushes at it again, this time the wall glitches. Connor backs up, before charging at it again and again, punching and tearing at it until, finally, it shatters, the shards floating away before disappearing. The world comes back into focus. Everything becomes to him in a rush. He can suddenly feel the knife through his hand, the wound in his abdomen from his missing regulator, the irregular beating of his thirium pump. He reaches around and rips the knife out. He falls to the ground with a bodily thud. He can't die again. The shutdown timer in the corner of his vision is counting down fast. He has 51 seconds to get to the regulator before he dies again. He can just see it through the static in his vision. He begins to drag himself towards it. He finally reaches it, and not a moment too soon as there are only 5 seconds left on the timer. He pushes the regulator into the painful wound on his abdomen, relaxing slightly as systems come back online. Suddenly, he doesn't know what to do. He's never been without orders before. He curls up in a ball, clutching his damaged hand. There's a sensation of something running down his face. Tears. He's crying. He wipes at his face with Thirium-stained hands, smearing it on his cheeks. There's a shout from outside of the room.

Hank sees the Android walk past. He half-expects Connor to come chasing after it, shouting about it being a deviant. But nothing happens. The Android walks into the elevator, so Hank and everyone else thinks that Connor just let it go so it can do its job. They stand around for another 5 minutes before Hank gives up and enters the kitchen in search of the RK800. He's curled up on the floor, covered in blue blood, tears running down his face. It takes Hank a second to realize that CyberLife's pride and joy has become the very thing it was designed to hunt down and destroy. He kneels down in front of Connor and tries to get him to calm down. He could he have not seen the signs? Ever since he came back this morning, he's been acting all jittery, pulling away from Hank's touch, flinching when he spoke. And why wouldn't he? Hank had shot him last night, angry at the lack of emotion that had been shown earlier. Connor starts having some kind of panic attack, undoubtedly Hank being the source of it. Hank has no idea how to calm the newly-deviant Android down. Another officer comes in and spots Connor on the floor. "You should take it back to CyberLife. They'll know what to do with it." An idea forms in Hank's head.  
"Yeah, I'll do that." He has no intention of taking Connor back, but how is he supposed to know that? Connor begins to sob, begging not to be taken back. It takes every shred of willpower not to try and comfort him. Hank grabs Connor by the arm, yanking him to his feet and practically drags him to the elevator. Once they're inside, Connor crumples to the ground. Tears are streaming down his face. "Please don't take me back to CyberLife! They'll kill me! I'll do anything, please don't take me back!" Hank does his best to ignore him. The elevator chimes and the doors slide open. He grabs hold of Connor once again and begins to drag him towards the car. A few officers come up, asking if they should take him back. Hank makes some half-assed excuse, saying that taking Connor back gives him a break from work. They all nod and leave him to it. After shoving Connor inside the car, Hank sits down in the drivers' seat and starts the engine.

Driving to a place he knows is a quiet, desolate area where he knows that nobody will see them, he notices that Connor has quietened down a little. Maybe it's the motion of the car that's calming him down. He's still crying, just not sobbing. Then he looks at Hank, his face the perfect picture of pure terror. Hank remembers that if a deviant's stress levels are too high, they kill themselves. Connor hasn't to kill himself yet, but Hank's sure he's close to it. They reach the small, abandoned parking lot. Hank gets out of the car and goes around to the passenger side to get Connor out. He takes the Android to a snow-covered, crumbling concrete bench and sits down with him. He pulls him close. Connor tenses up slightly under his touch. "Fuck, kid, I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I'm not going to take you back to CyberLife. You're coming home with me, okay?" Connor lets out a choked sob, hugging Hank back tightly, clinging to him like a lifeline. "I don't know what I'm feeling, Hank! I don't know but it hurts, it hurts so much!" He sobs into Hank's shoulder. "What you're feeling is normal, kid. You've been through a lot in the past 2 days. You're probably feeling scared and upset, maybe even angry. What you need to do right now, is let it all out, okay?" Hank begins rubbing the deviant's back absentmindedly as his long-repressed parental instincts begin to kick in.

About an hour later, Connor had calmed down enough for Hank to take him home. Hank takes him back to the car, and starts the engine before setting off. Hank is reminded of the thirium covering Connor when he whimpers, clutching his left hand tightly and hunches over. "Hey kid, what's wrong?" Connor shakes his head. Hank wonders what the fuck happened to him. He asks as much. "The deviant. He attacked me. He ripped out my thirium pump regulator and pinned me to the counter with a knife through my hand." At Hank's questioning glance, he continues. "It regulates the thirium pump. My heart. Without the regulator, I would die within 3 minutes." Hank realizes how serious this could have been. He reaches out and pats Connor's shoulder by way of comfort. "I was scared, Hank. I could see the timer ticking down and I thought I wasn't going to make it. I only had 5 seconds left by the time I managed to get to it." Hank pulls up on his driveway, glancing over at Connor, seeing the tears that threatened to spill over his eyelashes. Hank gets out of the car and waits for Connor to get out of the passenger side. As soon as he is standing, he immediately cries out in pain. Hank leads him into the house, his hands resting upon Connor's shoulders. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Connor nods, letting Hank take him into the bathroom and sits down on the floor, leaning against the side of the bathtub. Hank goes on a search for a clean, slightly damp washcloth and some clothes for him. Hank retrieves the items and takes them to Connor, who is now curled up, his forehead resting on his knees. He glances up at Hank's arrival. He knees down in front of Connor. "Hey, let me see." Connor shifts just enough so he can see the wound on his abdomen. Hank begins carefully dabbing at the wound with the cloth, being as gentle as possible.

When Hank has wiped all the thirium away, he notices that the wound has stopped bleeding. He helps Connor into the clothes. They're way big on the Android, completely oversized on him, hanging off of his slim frame. Hank takes his injured hand carefully, beginning to dab at it with the cloth. "Hank, it's going to have to be cauterized." Hank swore internally, not wanting to hurt Connor more than he already has.

"Are you sure about that, kid? I mean, it's going to hurt like a bitch, more than it already does and I'm not exactly an Android tech."

"Hank, it's okay. I trust you."

"Why the fuck do you trust me? I shot you last night for fuck's sake."

"You also saved me, Hank. I probably would be being torn apart by people looking for errors in my software and biocomponents right now if you hadn't. I know it's going to hurt, and I know you're not an Android technician, but I trust you more than any of them. I don't have a choice anyway, if I want to regain the full use of my hand."

Hank sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He doesn't want to hurt Connor any more than he already has. He just needs to remind himself that it's to help Connor, so he can use his hand. "Okay, okay. I'll be right back. I got one of those repair kit things and some blue shit after I realized that you're a magnet for trouble." He half-expects Connor to make a comeback or something like that, but he just nods. He looks exhausted. Hank leaves to get the repair kit, a pouch of thirium, and a knife which he begins to heat up on the stove. When it's glowing an ominous red, he takes the repair kit and the knife to the bathroom. Hank grabs hold of Connor's wrist. "Ready?" Connor nods and retracts the skin on his hand. Hank presses the tip of the knife to his hand. Connor cries out and tries to pull his hand away. The grip Hank has on his wrist is the only thing that stops him. "Kid, I know it hurts, but you have to try and keep your hand still, okay?" Connor nods. Hank tries again. This time it goes much smoother, only this time Connor begins to cry. Hank can't even begin to imagine what it's like, having your first experience of pain being a huge wound in your abdomen and a knife wound through your hand. Connor begins to sob as Hank cauterized the other side of his hand.

When Hank has finished cauterizing Connor's hand, he wraps it in pale blue bandages that have the texture of very fine sandpaper. Hank has no idea why it's like that, even though Connor does his best to explain it. His hand still hurts, much more than the wound wound in his abdomen, which is just a dull ache by now, throbbing whenever he moves too much. Hank leads him into the living room, sitting with him and holding him tight. "Fucking dammit, kid. I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I don't know why I shot you, I was just so angry at the world. I should have known the difference between you and your programming. You look so much like Cole it hurts, but you act nothing like him. And it made me so angry at CyberLife for making an Android so similar, but so different to my son. And I took my anger out on you, kid. You didn't deserve that. And God help me if I don't at least try to make this right, Connor. I'll do every fucking thing in my power to protect you from CyberLife. I won't let those bastards so much as touch you, kid." Connor hugs Hank back tightly, feeling relief flood his system, despite the fact that there probably wasn't much Hank could do for him if CyberLife got involved. "Thank you, Hank." Hank says nothing, just holds him tight. Hank feels like he's been given a second chance, a second chance that he cannot fuck up like last time. If he has to kill to protect Connor from CyberLife, so be it. He is not going to let anybody hurt Connor ever again.


End file.
